The effort required round trips to Lubbock three to four times a week, before the completion of the interstate, as well as several summers in research. Persistence ultimately paid off.

What is the value of your education?

Education has been the means by which my life not only has been actualized, but through which my life has affected others.

Education has enabled me to realize the Army's motto: "Be all you can be." As an educator, I have influenced literally thousands of students to be likewise led.

What would you say to someone who's undecided about continuing their education?

Education derives from the Latin "educere," meaning "to lead out." Commit to education and your full potential will be "led out."

When did you make education a priority?

Education was always held as a family as well as personal priority.

Since first grade education has always held a prioritized pride-of-place in my life's value system.

What made you realize the importance of education in your life?

The mission statement of the public schools once was, "produce productive, lifelong learners."

The reality of this statement motivated me away from medicine into education my senior year in college.

Did you ever think about quitting? What made you keep going?

To learn is to live, so there has never been a thought of quitting. I hope to continue to learn and master disparate areas, saying as Michelangelo just before his death, "ancara imparo," - I am still learning.